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November 13, 2018 - 5:00 PM
The B.C. government has launched a new universal prototype initiative to provide affordable and accessible child cares services to families across the province, including in the Thompson-Okanagan region.
The province has selected 53 daycare facilities that will deliver child care services to families for no more than $200 a month, per child, according to a B.C. government media release.
The universal childcare initiative is part of the government’s 10-year ChildCare B.C. Plan that is being funded through a $60 million investment. The selected childcare providers will receive government funding to cover operational and administration costs to reduce the costs to families for full-time childcare enrolment.
“This project takes a major step towards universal childcare in British Columbia. The demand for this program was so strong that we expanded it to cover more children and more sites in every region of the province in the prototype stage,” Minister of Children and Family Development, Katrine Conroy says in the release. “We want to make life more affordable for families, and this investment will demonstrate the low-cost, high-quality care B.C. parents can look forward to as we fully implement ChildCare B.C.”
The selected sites will also receive a one-time grant in 2019 to improve the quality of programs.
The province received more than 300 applications from childcare sites across the province back in June. Priority was given to sites that had infant and toddler spaces.
The selected facilities in the Thompson-Okanagan include the Kamloops Child Development Centre, Nzen’man’ Child Care Programs in Lytton, Little Scholars YMCA Playing to Learn Child Care and Preschool in Kelowna and Kinderplace OSNS Child and Youth Development Centre in Penticton. In Vernon, Maven Lane and Snc'c'amala? Tn Early Childhood Education Centre were the two facilities chosen.
Forty-three sites have already begun operating under the new plan since Nov. 1; another ten facilities are expected to begin operating under the new regulations on Dec. 1.
The low-cost facilities will operate until March 31, 2020, and exist in both urban and rural communities across the province. The B.C. government predicts parents of approximately 2,500 children will benefit from the projects.
Parents who are not able to access the low-cost facilities may still eligible for support through the Affordable Child Care Benefit or the Child Care Fee Reduction.
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